There is a substantial market in and for memorabilia and other articles, such as autographed sports items like baseballs, footballs, jerseys, and other articles. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to counterfeit such articles. For example, the signature of a famous baseball player on a baseball can be duplicated and replicated on other baseballs, and it is very difficult if not virtually impossible to determine whether the subsequent article is genuine or not. A system or method whereby the authenticity of an article such as this could be easily verified would be useful but is not available today.